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Fact of the day: 17th March

It’s St. Patrick’s Day!! Hope you all have a good day – especially the Irish 😛 And if you’re drinking, at least do it responsibly – one beer in each hand!! Seriously though, no drink driving!

On this day in 1861 the Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.

The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in 1861 when King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy. The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state. It existed until 1946 when the Italians opted for a republican constitution.

Following the unification of most of Italy, tensions between the monarchists and republicans erupted. In April 1861, Garibaldi entered the Italian parliament and challenged Cavour’s leadership of the government, accusing him of dividing Italy and spoke of the threat of civil war between the Kingdom in the north and Garibaldi’s forces in the south. On June 6, 1861, the Kingdom’s strongman Cavour died. During the ensuing political instability, Garibaldi and the republicans became increasingly revolutionary in tone. Garibaldi’s arrest in 1862 set off worldwide controversy.